EFFICIENCY

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does efficiency mean? 

• EFFICIENCY (noun)
  The noun EFFICIENCY has 2 senses:

1. the ratio of the output to the input of any system

2. skillfulness in avoiding wasted time and effort

  Familiarity information: EFFICIENCY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EFFICIENCY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The ratio of the output to the input of any system

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Hypernyms ("efficiency" is a kind of...):

ratio (the relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "efficiency"):

figure of merit (a numerical expression representing the efficiency of a given system, material, or procedure)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Skillfulness in avoiding wasted time and effort

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

she did the work with great efficiency

Hypernyms ("efficiency" is a kind of...):

skillfulness (the state of being cognitively skillful)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "efficiency"):

economy (the efficient use of resources)

Antonym:

inefficiency (unskillfulness resulting from a lack of efficiency)

Derivation:

efficient (being effective without wasting time or effort or expense)

 Context examples 

Now, scientists at the University of Cambridge have found a way of making the white fat ‘browner’ and increasing the efficiency of brown fat.

(Study in mice suggests drug to turn fat ‘brown’ could help fight obesity, University of Cambridge)

Sure was I of His efficiency to save what He had made: convinced I grew that neither earth should perish, nor one of the souls it treasured.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

By eliminating the movement of charge, any such device would need less power and be less prone to overheating – removing some of the most significant obstacles to further improving computer efficiency.

(Certain organic semiconducting materials can transport spin faster than they conduct charge, University of Cambridge)

"While snow likes to give up electrons, the performance of the device depends on the efficiency of the other material at extracting these electrons," Maher El-Kady, co-author and assistant researcher at UCLA, says.

(Nanogenerator Creates Electricity from Snowfall, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Ozturk said future work will focus on improving the efficiencies of these flexible devices, by using materials and techniques to further eliminate parasitic resistances.

(Flexible Wearable Electronics Use Body Heat for Energy, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Schumacher says higher efficiency means more capacity to think, and the brain may mind wander when performing easy tasks.

(Daydreaming Is Good: It Means You're Smart, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Although all materials should demonstrate this behaviour, the efficiency of this process is typically small and cannot be controlled externally.

(Graphene paves the way to faster high-speed communications, University of Cambridge)

Sustained exercise that places an increased oxygen demand on the cardiovascular system and promotes an increased efficiency of the body's use of oxygen.

(Aerobic exercise, NCI Thesaurus)

An Arg167His polymorphism affects efficiency of IgG2 recognition.

(IgG Fc Receptor IIA, NCI Thesaurus)

Lubricant excipient is a therapeutically inactive substance used to facilitate the release of stamped solid pharmaceutical dosage forms, e.g. tablets, out of the die once pressed, improving the efficiency of manufacturing.

(Lubricant Excipient, NCI Thesaurus)